Knife holder



@May 9,1939. HHQHOPKINS. 2,157,412

KNIFE HOLDER VFiled Nov. l2, 1937 INVENT OR.

P1 HH n1=1 1115 Patented May 9, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE KNIFE HOLDER Horner H. Hopkins, Des Moines, Iowa.

Application November 12, 1937, Serial No. 174,172

1 Claim.`

The principal object of my invention is to provide` a handy vknife holder that protects the sharpened edge of a knife blade and prevents possible injury to a person by completely covering and encasing the blade.

A further object of this invention is to provide a knife holder thatis a simple and inexpensive support for a plurality of frequently used knives.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a knife holder` wherein a plurality of knives may be readily disposed therein, or as equally easily removed therefrom.

' A still further object of this invention is to provide a knife holder that is durable in use,

Ld 4economical in manufacture, and eflicient in operation.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, ar-

im rangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which: v

M Fig. l is a front view of my knife holder in use showing a plurality of knives therein by the dotted lines.

Fig. Z is a side View of my knife holder in use and secured to a supporting wall or like.

Fis. 3 is a top plan view of the knife holder showing its plurality of grooves for `receiving knives.

Fig. s is a bottom view of the knife holder.

.Fig 5 is a cross sectional view of my knife holder and more fully illustrates its construction.

ln previous knife holders, there have been a number oi drawbacks. These holders, in a number of cases, exposed the blades, thereby giving rise to a chance injury, to both the knives themselves and to the users. In others, the knife blades come in contact with each other, causing them to become dull and nicked. Also, where a plurality ofknives are reposed in a single rack, it is most difiicult to get the right knife without 4,5 pulling out a number of them to determine which is the right one. I have overcome such objections as will be appreciated and as hereinafter more fully set forth.

Referring to the drawing, I have used the m1- meral IB to designate the back board or base Vpor-- tion of my device and having a hole il cut near its -topcenter portion for receiving a screw or the like. In the drawing 1 show the knifeholder held in position by means of a screw I2 threaded into a supporting member I3, but obviously,-any

(Cl. 21h-87) suitable means may be employed. The numeral I4 designates the block member secured to the back board portion.

This block member is one piece as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing and has a plurality of paral- 5 lel longitudinal channel grooves I5, I6, I1, IB and I9, for receiving knives of differentsizes. These grooves I5, I6, I1, I8 and I9 are cut in the block member I4 and lie adjacent and communi cate with the back board lll. 'The central groove 10 I5 is designed to receive a large knife, such as a butcher knife. The depth of this groove I5 is increased by an auxiliary communicating channel groove 2li cut in the back board IIJ adjacent the groove i5 in block member I4. This auxit iliary groove llii extends from the lower end portion of the back board I0 to a point adjacent the upper end portion of the block member It. By this construction, a receiving slot opening is provided capable of receiving and successfully 2a vholding a Iwide bladed knife without increasing the thickness of the block member. ln manufacture, this is highly desirable as the block member may be made from 2 x e" wood stock,

thereby making for not only a compact device of minimum dimensions, but also making for econm omy in' manufacture. Obviously, if the grooves ill were not provided in the block member to pron vide for wide bladed knives, the devices would have to be made froml wood not of standard t@ thickness and this would add greatly to the cost and bulk of the device. The grooves l5, It, I'I, it, and it are arranged in spaced relationship to each other and are formed in the block member before the block member is secured to the back ad board. These channel grooves which are arranged parallel with each other in spaced relationship, communicate with the outside top and outside bottom of the block member and extend the full length of the block meer. The block do member may be of any suitable design but I recommend that its upper outer' end portion be rounded as shown in Fig. 2, as one standing in front of the device may easily observe the knife receiving slot openings thereby facilitating the 45 placement of the knives in the holding slot openings.

Hy the block member being lformed from a 'single piece of wood or like, thechannel grooves will not be communicating-with each other and therefore, each knife blade will be successfully held free of engagement with another knife.

lI have used the numeral 2l to designate knives with their blades engaging the slot openings and ,55

theirhandleeennlingsndrestlngontheupper endoftheblockmembernss'howninlig. 1.

The practical operation oimydevloeisls follows: The holdermay besecuredtothe 'all or otthekniieblede,nothotthebeekoltheblnde lsnotsllinthesnmeplsne. Theknlie would ordinarily bind if'lt werent for this suxilinry lroove Il to .receive the tip portion. In knives 1| ofnsmallersingtheeuxiiinrygrooveisnotlised manher. Obviously, however, euxiliu'y grooves muy beusedilneedcd. Thesmailer knives'are insel'tedintlmesmuxemntlnernsizlielnrgeumie.l

l I In tbeilrlwin'g, I show the two outer knife relidesotthedevicegremllerknivesthsn nexttothenioudtlnittheccntrelknil'eis` thelilteltoinlitheknives.

.'ihlsfncilitstesthe eesyselectionoltheknife desired.v When n knife is needed, it is-merely manually pulled outwardly and um from its holdingandmpportingslotopmlng. Wbenone lsthroughusingtheknltqitlsmerelynecelnry torepleeeltinits respeetiveslotopeninginthe device.` Bomechmgesmnybemsdeinthoonstmction and arrangement of my improved knife holder without departing from the reni spirit and pur- -pose o( my invention, and itis my intention to cover by my clnim any modliled forms oi. su'ucture or use oi' mechanicsl'equivalents which may. be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

'In s. device of the class described, an elongated blockmember; nidblookmemberbelng otvnrious thicknesses in crocs section, s plurality o! slot lroovcut lnthereersideotseid blockmember and extending the length through the block member; nid `slot grooveebeing oft; various depths inproportion to the relative thick.. nessotsaidblockmemberincross section, and: beek bou'dsccuredoverthereuwrdsideo! nid )Mock Amember extending beyond its cdgessndhevingegmowecutthereincoind-g denmmtnqneozthegroovcutmmdbloek nonumxnomcmak mmm 

